New York Pizza & Pasta is a family- owned and operated business, so when a man said they could advertise at school sporting events, owner John Maffei said he thought it was a safe bet. The man said he was from a company called Varsity Banners.

"We were supposed to be on that billboard, then he had said they were going to do another banner in the school," Maffei said.

No banners ever showed up at Pine Ridge Middle School, and school officials never saw a dime of the money Maffei paid.

"When school started we didn't see our names on the billboard so we call, and no one answers, nothing," Maffei said.

No one answered the number for Varsity Banners, but a voicemail alleges bad employees embezzled from the company and were let go. Maffei said several months have passed, but he hasn't heard anything.

Collier schools spokesman Greg Turchetta said the district hears from businesses every few months about banners that never showed up.

"This is not the first time we've heard about it; it won't be the last," he said.

Advertising at sporting events is a great moneymaker for schools because the dollars go back into the district. Turchetta said there's just one thing businesses need to know: advertising in schools is only facilitated by the school itself.

"If someone's approaching you for advertising in Collier County on behalf of the school, question it," he said, realizing the school factor is the hook to get people to spend their hard-earned money in the first place.

"The great shame of this is there's businesses out there that are trying to make a quick buck on the back of our children."

NBC2 reported a similar scam happening in Lee County this summer. The Lee County Sheriff's Office confirms that many of the businesses in that case did get their money back.